Christmas Week!

We are feeling very grateful for the opportunity to talk to Sadie yesterday! She is doing great, and just loves serving in New York City. Her email home this week was pretty short because of a change in P-day + we were going to talk soon anyways, but enjoy!

We got the mouse! HAHAHAHAHAHA. I was NOT going to clean it off that trap... The elders got the traps set up, and them we caught it like a few hours later! Yaya! Anyways, I tried to throw it using a spatula to the kittens that live in our yard, but missed... Hahaha.  Also I had to teach Sister Richardson all about selfies. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Also I'm cute. Deal with it.

I got some Christmas money from people, so yay! P.s. Tell Dana and the Jensens thank you! I will send thank you cards by next week. Also tell Drew thank you! I got five pounds of beef jerky!! Yessss.  Loved it. It was so legit.

This week was awesome though. It was a week of miracles. Taking over my area completely showed me what I really knew.  That moment that dad talks about where all the sudden you know the language happened this week. And I finally feel like I can really try to follow the spirit. Like I feel so guided about where to go. Like the best Christmas present ever.

Love you tons!

New Comp!

Hola mi familia!

Happy transfers y'all! I am still in the Bronx, but now Lancaster-less! The fact that she got transferred is CRAZY! She has been here for 8 months, and only has one cycle left before she leaves to go home.  But apparently she was needed in Connecticut! My new companion is Sister Richardson. She was actually MTC companions with Sister Lancaster, so she will also be going home in February. She is awesome. Everyone has told me she is a super hard worker, which is what I need right now- I need someone to kick my butt! She was an STL before, so it is going to be interesting to see how her work ethic affects my area. Also because she is leaving, most likely I will be staying here for at least two more cycles.  So my first 7 months will be spent in the Bronx! Does that make me a Bronxite? Hahaha. This week I have begun my search for my who-what-why.  Sister Lancaster and I always talk about how there are so many different types of missionaries, and I am in the process of finding out what kind of missionary I want to be, and how to become that missionary. During study time, I came across a talk by President Thomas S. Monson titled "That All May Hear". It is an oooold talk, but really felt relevant to my purpose! In it, he outlines three things that every missionary needs to do in order to become successful: Prepare with purpose, teach with testimony, and labor with love. These three things have become my motto! It's amazing to see how much those three topics show up EVERYWHERE in the scriptures!

Sadie's zone

Anyway, on Saturday I went on a split with Sister Stringam, one of our STLs! She taught me how to labor with love for sure. The Lord has been helping me discover why love is so important, and Sister Stringam is evidence of that. Love creates a desire. She brings love and service to everyone and is always there to help. If anybody needs a hug, she is there. I love her, and I especially love her example. Sister Stringham is amazing and has truly changed my mission life already. I want so bad to be a missionary like her. She loves, she is smart, she is direct, she knows, she listens, she is awesome. She doesn't like to waste time for anything, which is how I feel I want to be. She taught me how to be direct. How to just say what you're going to teach, then teach it. Don't be awkward about transitions to questions or anything.  Just go for it.  Because people like to talk anyway, so it will all work out, especially if the Spirit is there. I love that.  Anyways, we met with an awesome Dominican lady named Amparo when we were actually looking for her daughter, Cynthia. Cynthia is a less-active member, who we thought was going to be back here by November, but it looks like no. Amparo is not a member, but has been taught by missionaries in the past, I am sure. She knew so much about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and believed a lot of it. She also told us that she has read part of the Book of Mormon. While she was making us hot chocolate, we were sitting outside of her kitchen on chairs. She spoke Spanish about a million miles a minute. I understood maybe 40% of what she said. Luckily Sister Stringam was there to help me out. But our lesson was amazing. She told us that she had doubts about Joseph Smith. It was really the only thing she didn't completely understand. Sister Stringam looked at me and told me to tell about the Restoration. I nodded, then began. I felt like I could see the pamphlet in front of me in my head. I was so grateful for the time in the mtc that we spent memorizing the topics of the pamphlet. The words began flowing out of my mouth. I had a few mistakes, but the words just came. I felt so inspired. I felt like what I was saying was clear- like she understood. I began the story and then felt inspired to tell about the first vision. As I taught about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ coming to Joseph Smith in a humble grove of trees, the spirit was so strong. I felt like for the first time in a while this was God's lesson--not mine. I have been reading about how we have the amazing gift to not only have the Spirit with us, but literally through us. In that case, we say what the Spirit would say we are just His mouthpiece. That is amazing to me. In this experience, I really felt that!

Feeling like a mouthpiece for the Spirit happened again yesterday when we taught a member of our ward, Marta, who is about 70 years old and the sweetest, most hilarious Puerto Rican ever. We talked about her conversion story and I bore testimony that she should write it down for her future generations, and how I have the gospel because my ancestors received, shared, and wrote about their experiences of the Restored Gospel in their own time. I testified that her family would come to the knowledge of the true gospel of Jesus Christ if she shared her testimony with them by writing it down.  This really is The Lord's work, because I would not be able to feel the way I do, be the missionary I want to be, or have experiences like this if He were not guiding me every step of the way. 

Mom, we do stick all our food in the fridge... Except those cookies had been out. And the mouse ate sister Lancaster's stocking too... She wasn't very happy. But she is going upstate where they have no mice or bugs, so that is a plus!  I am sooo spoiled!! Thank you so much for your packages and love. I also got packages from grandma and grandpa, nanny and papa, there is one coming from the chums, one coming from Sarah, and apparently a package with five pounds of meat from Drew!!!!!   Also funny story, Alexa is in Punxy, PA, the place where the groundhog is. She is terrified of groundhogs. Really she is terrified of a lot of stuff hahaha.  Here is am amazing story! The English ward had 9 people baptized on Saturday. Yeah. Nine! Two families! I missed the baptism, but heard it was amazing. 

It finally snowed!!

Not much else happened this week, except we got stuck in the EXACT SAME ELEVATOR.  Yeahhh.... Same time, same elevator, same exact people, just the next week. We weren't going to take the elevator, but I convinced Lancaster that we should just go with the elders. Next thing you know the door is not opening again... This time after pushing buttons, all the elders started yelling out their weight to see how close we were to the maximum weight allowance.  They looked at Sister Lancaster and I--we threw them a couple of sassy looks.  Yeah, they returned to pounding the door open button. Oh, and it snowed like crazy. That is really all that happened though.  Love you all!! Merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone participating in the Christmas challenge! 

I am excited to talk to you next week! 

Love you!

Hermana Sadie Dodson

Stuck, Stuck, Stuuuuuuccckkkk!!

Hola!

This week was awesome, a little chillier, and pretty funny!

Thursday we had the baptism of Alex, an 8 year old in our ward. This  baptism was a party. There were balloons, party favors, a HUGE cake bigger than any I'd seen at any wedding, and party favors. It was insane! We had basically half the ward show up, which was awesome. Alex is an awesome kid, but he has more sass than any child I've ever met.  Yes, more sass than me and Emmy. Combined. Hard to imagine, I know. Haha. But it was amazing to see the change in him after his baptism. I talked to him on Sunday, and he was a new kid. He told me how excited he was to get the Holy Ghost, and was extremely calm and awesome. It was crazy. Baptism really can change people if they let it. It is an ordinance of a God--a new birth. The chance to start over new. And I was blessed to see that change take place even in an 8 year old.

A baby shower for a ward member

On Friday was the mission Christmas party! It was outstanding! I loved every minute of it! We had all 261 missionaries in the mission there. Everyone made sure to arrive at least 1 1/2 hours early so we could have time to talk to everybody... Haha. But guess who I saw!? Sister Syd Jensen!! She is so cute, and it was awesome to see such a good friend from home. She keeps telling me to get transferred up to her area. Haha. We had a very spiritual musical program (my mission is so talented-- I think half my mission wants to study theater and/or music when they get back, go figure.), and then talks from both President and Sister Morgan. The spirit was strong, and testified of the real reason for the season: our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thrilled to be able to spend this holiday giving Him the best gift I can think of: devoted service. He has given the greatest of all the gifts of God--eternal life with my family, and I couldn't be more happy to be spending all my time paying Him back.

Sunday we had an awesome lesson in Sunday school about exaltation-our ultimate goal of living with God. I heard a quote earlier in the week from Elder Russell M. Nelson, who said that, "While salvation is an individual matter, exaltation is a FAMILY matter". It was awesome to testify to new converts and investigators that the only way we CAN live with God is by completing the ordinances that He has instigated: baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, receiving the Priesthood for men, receiving your endowment in the temple, and being sealed to your family in the temple for eternity. I know that these things are special, and they are truly the only way to return. I feel so blessed to have been able to feel of the importance and receive of these events in my life. Now all I have to do is keep on trudging and making sure that every day I am worthy enough to be comfortable with God. It's like I have received the keys to open the door to the house.  But, I need to make sure I can feel like I belong, or like it is MY house.  I will be able to be with the ones I love there.

On Monday, along with Dad's birthday, it was Elder Gamble's, my super awesome district leader's birthday! To celebrate we threw him a surprise party at a member's house (Susy). Even preparing for the surprise party was eventful, so the night was bound to be a little dramatic. Normally Elder Gamble, Elder Geisel, Sister Lancaster, and I head to Susy's house to eat on Mondays, so we decided we would invite all the elders  and our ward mission leader to her house early to surprise him when he showed up. Two problems arose with this plan: we run on Dominican time, and Elders Gamble and Geisel ended up going on a split with Elders Stephens and Duvall.  (Luckily for us, Elder Gamble was planning on staying in his area, so he was still planning on coming to dinner.) On Sunday Elder Duvall showed Elder Gamble his and Stephen's schedule to prove that they actually had things planned for the day. Included in that plan was an event on Monday at 7 pm, conveniently named "Gamble surprise".  Haha, gotta love those elders... So after that Elder Gamble had a few suspicions.

Elder Gamble's "surprise" birthday party

On Monday, Hermana Lancaster and I were heading to Susy's after an appointment in our area when we get a text from Elders Wilkins and Hurtado telling us that Gamble is now under the impression that we were not going to make it to Susy's tonight and instead they were going to go, and that we should just "play along". Apparently earlier in the afternoon Elders Hurtado, Wilkins, Gamble, and Geisel all found themselves together in their apartment. As is missionary tradition, they decided to pray before they headed out the door. When Elder Wilkins said the prayer, he blessed that they would get to Sister Susy's house safely. This of course confused Elder Gamble, since Elder Wilkins was not supposed to be going to Susy's that night.  So Elder Wilkins threw in a quick cover up, saying that the sisters had called and they were trading places. These boys do not know how to keep a secret.  It ended up that Hermana Lancaster and I were the last ones at Susy's house since Dominican time means we're always running late. So when we walked in the door we yelled a huge "surprise!!", and then watched as Elder Gamble gave us a really lame reaction. Either way, it was still a fun party and we had a delicious dinner.

After the party was over, we all left the apartment at the same time then waited for the elevator to show up--8 missionaries plus one ward mission leader.  Diosfer was the last one to step in the elevator when it arrived, and like the boys that they are, a couple elders hockey shoved him into the door. Next thing I know, we're stuck in a tiny stinky elevator with a trash bag, a fly the size of a ring, eight missionaries, and one ward mission leader.  This elevator was not moving anywhere.  The first thing we do, freak out a little. Do some jumping and yelling, and then quickly push all the buttons as if they were about to diffuse bombs or something. With no luck there, we had Diosfer call Susy.  He calls, but the Spanish he grew up speaking in the DR has left his brain, and instead of saying we're stuck in the elevator, he tells her that the elevator touched us. She must have thought it was a prank call, because she hung up immediately after that. After a few minutes of laughing at the fact that us gringos have to correct a Dominican's Spanish, we decide to take the next step and press the emergency call button. It rings a couple time, them says "Hello, this is the elevator service..." Diosfer yells out, "yeah we're stuck in an elevator!" The response, "we're sorry, please call back during normal business hours, 9-5..." With our few logical ideas busted, we decide to do the thing we should have done in the first place: PRAY.  I know prayers are answered on my own, so with a group of 7 other stellar missionaries and a ward mission leader, our prayer was bound to be pretty loud up in Heaven. Elder Duvall said a really sweet prayer, using the correct Spanish word for stuck. After the prayer, the giant fly came and attacked Sister lancaster and I and the elders pushed the emergency call button again. "Hello this is the elevator service." We were all silent. The voice spoke again. "Hello? This is the elevator device? Hello?" SOMEONE ANSWERED!!!  We told him our location, then he hung up. After that we tried Susy. Guess who answered her phone, and guess who spoke correct Spanish?! Susy told us she would get the super.  PRAYER half-way ANSWERED! BOOYA! So now it was a waiting game.  Usually it takes the fire department about 3 hours to respond to elevator calls, and while Susy is awesome, who knows what her super could actually do. In the process of all of this, we thought we felt the elevator move, but even then, the door never opened.  So after about 10 minutes of taking pictures, and telling Elder Gamble he had the best birthday story ever, someone thought to push the door open button. Next thing we know, the door swings open on the fifth floor! (We started at the basement... Hahaha). We all rushed out, more willing than ever to take the stairs! Sister lancaster passed out against the wall (from laughing too hard) for about 2 minutes, and then we headed home! But I know that prayers are answered! God hears every one and is just waiting for us.

GORGEOUS New York skyline

Love you all tons!! The Church is true, and I am blessed to be a part of this great work!

Love,

Hermana Dodson

For those of you that haven't seen the chalk art mural pictures at reachmygospel.blogspot.com, here are some Sadie took:

A New York Thanksgiving

Hola!

This thanksgiving was definitely an interesting one, but one I am definitely grateful for! Our downstairs neighbors, who are members in the English ward, invited us to dinner Wednesday night. We were so excited to possibly be having an Americans Thanksgiving! To our surprise, when we arrived, we discovered that the family we were eating dinner with was African! The wife came here from Sierra Leon only three years ago. So we had an African Thanksgiving! It was AMAZING! Africans love their food nice and spicy- my favorite.  Surprisingly, in general, we don't eat much spicy food here. Dominican food is not typically spicy, and we only ever eat at one Mexican member's house. We ate turkey, cous cous with shrimp and green beans, really spicy pork ribs, fruit and salad. Hermana Lancaster does not have a high tolerance for heat, so she was dying. When's she tasted the pork ribs I swear tears were coming out of her eyes. I didn't think they were that hot, just a little mild. The members told us that the ribs were actually really mild, because they were worried about what we could handle. The brother actually told us that he usually brings crushed red pepper with him everywhere because nothing is ever spicy enough. I have decided I was meant to be African. Haha. While we were eating the sister started telling us about a soup she makes. Listen to this: it is spicy peanut butter soup,with shrimp and chicken. I about fell off my chair when she said all those words together in one phrase. She said she would make some for me sometime, so fingers crossed!! That is like all my favorite things put together.  I was so grateful to be able to spend time with a family on thanksgiving! It was such a blessing!  They were so loving, kind, and hilarious. They have two girls, one who is

17, and the other is 2.  The two year old was sooo adorable. 

African Thanksgiving 

Dominican Thanksgiving

After our African extravaganza, I could not eat any more food, but we headed over to our ward mission leader's house for a Dominican dinner.  It was also delicious. The turkey had much more of a Latin flare, compared to the spicy African flare. Overall, it was a wonderful thanksgiving. We had opportunities to share the gospel with our neighbors, our friends, and also had the chance to had a relaxing day with friends. I am so grateful that we could celebrate this day.  I am so grateful that we can be grateful to our savior everyday! I am so grateful for you guys- my friends, and especially my family. Thank you so much for your sacrifices so that I can have this opportunity. It's been amazing to actually realize how much I not only need this mission, but also how much I actually want it. I have thought about how I never thought I would serve a mission, yet here I am, trying to follow God's plan for me. The more I try to do His will, the more I realize that I wanted this all along. I wanted to share, to serve, to love, to grow. I couldn't be more grateful for who I am becoming and for my Savior, who is giving me this opportunity!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week we saw a lot of progress with a less active family, the Reynosas. The wife is sick with cancer and has not been able to come to church for a long time.  They are from the DR, and used to be really active members. We have seen a lot of progress with them! It has been really special to see.  A few weeks ago she was in the hospital for 12 days. I think this time in the hospital really hit her hard.  She is now home but has a hospice helper and has a hospital bed in her living room. When we come over, her face always lights up and she's always excited to see us come. Now that her health has really been waning, we like to call ourselves her spiritual hospice helpers.  It is really sad to see, and say, but we are literally sending her off to her Heavenly Father. This week, the ward made it possible for her to receive the sacrament at home! I think it really helped her feel pure joy. This truly is a gift from our Savior.  This Sunday we went to visit again, but she had a terrible headache. We ended up reading the Book of Mormon with Brother Reynosa. We read Helaman 13, which talks about the coming of the Savior and His purpose here. Bro. Reynosas contributed so much to the lesson. He was making comments about repentance, about Jesus Christ being born, about His Atonement, etc. The Spirit was strong.  At the end of the lesson, he says to us, "Me gustaría dar testimonio." We sat there in a tiny living room with a hospital bed, and listened to a man wearing a wife-beater and a gold chain with a diamond Jesus pendant give a sweet pure testimony. The Spirit bore witness to us, and I'm sure especially to him, that this church is the true church on the earth! It was beautiful.

In the spirit of the season, Sister Lancaster and I have been working on a nativity activity that we are going to do with people we teach! We really want to bring the spirit of Jesus Christ into their homes. I am working on drawing people for the nativity, and Sister Lancaster is working on making challenges for each day. Basically it is a countdown to Christmas, with things to do each day (such as read the story of Christ's birth in the Americas, etc.). Once an activity is completed, then they can put up the corresponding person. For example, Sunday the 15th, the challenge is to go to church, and the character is Mary. So if they go to church they put Mary on their scene! If not, then their nativity is going to be a little skewed... Haha. (Good thing we believe in repentance!) we are going to post pics on Facebook as we do it, and ask that whoever participates does as well. So look for pics on Facebook! Also it will be POSTED ON THE BLOG! So for whoever would like to join with us, print outs and information will be listed later this week. We are going to have a hashtag so people can follow it on Facebook, and then on our blogs, we are post our experiences of how we completed the day's challenge.  I am so excited. It is going to be amazing!!!

We decorated a member's Christmas tree!

We went and visited a less active family on Monday, the Pascuals, which we hadn't seen for a long time. They have four children.  We literally thought of the nativity scene idea on Monday morning, and then felt prompted to go see this family. So that night, we were running late, but still decided to go. We ran to the train, and right when we arrived, the train showed up! And then we got off the train, we ran to the bus stop, and the bus was there! This never happens. It was a miracle!  This bus NEVER ever shows up on time.  Generally we have to wait for 10 or 15 minutes. It was evidence to me that we really needed to get to this family! The bus ride was super fast, and next thing we knew we were crossing the bridge over to Manhattan! Oops... We were on the limited bus, not the regular one.  I leaned over to Sister Lancaster and said that they must not be quite ready for us... So we got off the bus in Washington Heights (this was a mistake I was kind of thrilled that it happened...) and waited for another bus to come back. When we finally arrived at the house, we were invited in. No more than two minutes later, the rest of the family walked in the door! God has perfect timing--that I know is true. Anyway, we spent some time with them, and felt like we NEED to do the Christmas countdown with them.  It was so cool. Truly The Lord works in mysterious ways. We are going back on Saturday to get them started!! It is definitely going to be a Christmas to remember!  I am so excited to help people really understand and FEEL the reason for the season.

Baptism for a for a man in the local English ward

Anyways, a couple other funny things:

My nickname here is "Sister Hipster"! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Everyone here thinks I am hipster. I know I dress really eccentric, but this is too hilarious. At zone meeting this week, I was asked to lead the discussion about online proselyting because I am "hipster". That was pretty funny.

I also made the pumpkin chocolate cookies from my other mother (Lori's recipe :) this week, and they were a big hit at our zone meeting. The comments we got were hilarious. I didn't have much time to cook them, so I made like two cookies for each person. I go to the bathroom, then come back to find out a couple elders had like 6. Every elder was telling me when their birthday was, trying to hint at me to make them more cookies. Another Elder told

Sister Lancaster that if his companion made cookies like that, he wouldn't let them be shared. I was laughing so hard! So thank you, mom (and Lori!)!

I saved you guys Mexican cookies! But our

little friend the mouse got to them.... Ugh.

Also Mom, THANK YOU for the December daily Christmas presents! They are so funny. We love opening one each morning.  The decorations and such help us to feel the spirit of Christmas.

Also this week we talked to Sulenny, a less active young woman. She is AMAZING! We love visiting her. She's super smart, and LOVES the gospel. She wanted to talk to us about the Second Coming, so we read with her the article in this month's New Era by Elder Holland. I was so uplifted. I really felt like I have finally really understood the importance of the Book of Mormon, and the reason for its creation. It was made for these latter days! I knew that before, but that day I felt it. I felt that truth and felt the Holy Ghost testify of that truth as I was praying. I know with my whole entire soul that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is true. It is important, and it is necessary. I know without a doubt in my mind that when I read that book, I am going to come closer to God. If the Second Coming is scary, it is because you don't fully understand the Book of Mormon. That book has the power to eliminate all fears, and will enlighten you as to the things that you need to do to prepare yourself for the time when Jesus Christ will reign on the earth. The Book of Mormon is powerful!! I am so grateful that prophets in the past sacrificed their own time with their own people and their own problems to write this book! They wrote it not because it would help their people, they wrote it so that we could have success. They knew their dispensation was eventually going to fail. They knew it. So they did all they could to make sure that our dispensation would not!

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week, and Happy Holidays!! Thank you so much for everything!

Love, Sister Dodson

Chalking up New York

Hello family!

First off, THANK YOU for the packages!! We are pumped for Christmas!!

We have been listening to Christmas music from the day I got here...

Hahaha. 

You saw on Facebook already, and I am probably going to put some

pictures up later, but we did a chalk finding activity! It was so much

fun, and we are hoping that we get a whole bunch of new investigators

from it! If you want to see more pictures, go to

reachmygospel.blogspot.com.

Last week we had 5 dinner appointments!! Bet you didn't believe that

would happen, right?? Anyway, one of the nights we go to sister's

house, who is Mexican. She says that we are going to have mondongo...

If you don't want to run that word through google translate, it is cow

intestine! We had it in a soup. It was so scary. Imagine a big chunk

of chicken skin. I tried to chew it, but after two attempts, nothing

happened to it at all, so I just let it slide down my throat solid.

Luckily it was in a really delicious soup, so that helped. I had about

five six bites, then called it good. Hermana Lancaster went for one

bite and then almost threw it up. I was laughing so hard at the whole

experience.

I attended my first convert baptism this week! It was so beautiful.

And it was awesome because I helped teach this new member twice. I

felt the spirit so strongly during the baptism. Truly it is an

ordinance of Godliness.

Happy birthday to Emmy!! It was weird to miss it... But I hope it was amazing.

Also I found five dollars on the street! That was awesome.

We are learning about coming to know God.  As our Father, it is so

important that we know Him. Really know who He is as a person. We are

finding that many people simply lack the drive to live the gospel to

its fullest extent.  They are lazy, they are scared, they care more

about the world and people than God. I think that is because they

don't truly understand who He is. If people realized not only how

powerful our Father is, but also how loving He is, the concerns and

cares of the world will naturally fall away.  The measure of what we

do is determined by WHO matters the most. I believe that as people

come to understand who He is, how He works, etc. they will gain love

for Him, since He loves us. As we gain love, we will naturally want to

do the things that please Him. Genetically, we are half his, since we

are His Spirit children. We have inherited His love of good, His

natural inclination to learn more and to do more in faith. As we come

to know Him, we will come to realize who we truly are, and will

naturally do the things that make us like our Father.

In John 17:3 we learn that "this is life eternal, that they might know

thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

Spanish reveals the true meaning of this verse. There are two verbs in

Spanish that mean "to know". Saber and conocer. Saber means to know

facts, conocer means to know or be familiar with something or someone.

For example, yo sé a Ruth es mi madre- meaning I know who she is as that

lady that raised me. Yo sé que la Iglesia es verdadera. That is a

fact. Also yo conozco a Ruth, mi madre. Meaning that I know my mother,

I am familiar with her. We are friends. In past tense, conocer also

means to have met someone. So when I say yo conocì a Ruth, it means

more like I have met her- I know her. I hope that makes sense...

Anyways, in Spanish, Juan 17:3 dice, "Y ésta es la vida eterna: que te

conozcan a ti, el único Dios verdadero, y a Jesucristo, a quien has

enviado." Notice which version of the verb "to know" was used?

Conocer! Not saber.  Life eternal is not knowing about God, but

knowing God as a person, as our Padre!

Love you all! Don't forget to pray and have an amazing thanksgiving!!

Love,

Sadie

Stake Conference in the Bronx!

Hola mi familia!

Due to popular demand, I am now writing a weekly family email.  This week was super fast.  It was also pretty crazy.  We had stake conference and it was MIND BLOWINGLY good.  The theme was the temple, which was the perfect kick off for me to post my picture of the temple!  Conference was truly inspiring.  Our stake president talked about ridding yourself of all corrupting influences.  We focused on Moroni 10:32 (my mission scripture!!) and how it says to rid yourself of ALL ungodliness.  It was amazing.  He called everybody to repentance about getting to the temple as often as possible.  Not only is that the place that will lift us up above the world for the rest of our week, but it is also the place where we become partners with the Savior in saving souls.  How amazing is that?!  We are truly fulfilling our purposes as members of the Church and God's children as we make an effort to go to the temple.  

Sadie's newest piece: "The Spirit of God"

He also talked about keeping the sacred things of the temple sacred.  He also told us that modesty goes FAR BEYOND clothing.  It is about being careful and highly upholding the sacredness of the body.  The best quote from conference: "Many of you have heard it said that 'Modest is hottest.' NO.  Modest is Godliness."  I LOVE THAT!  Modesty is how we show that we are godly- that we want to be gods.  Do you think that in the eternities when we have earned the right to become gods and goddesses and our own worlds that we will be sitting there in hot shorts and bikini tops?  The last quote I loved from conference: "It is okay to be sad, depressed, ridiculed, stressed, etc.  But it is NEVER okay to be UNGODLY."  

Sunday night we had a fireside from Elder Nielsen, who was the one at General Conference who spoke about exclamation points.  He talked to us about how important it is to focus on the basics.  he told us about when he was called as a stake president, and had no idea what to do.  He went to the temple and oddly enough instead of feeling inspired to direct his stake members about going to the temple or focusing on missionary work, etc. He felt inspired to learn himself the Articles of Faith, and then to apply them.  He found that during his time as Stake President he was asked sooo many questions and put in so many situations where the Articles of Faith were relevant.  Such as the time President Hinckley was on 60 minutes, etc.  He had a friend grill him about the gospel, and he was able to answer every single accusation with an Article of Faith.  It reminded me of how I was prompted in the MTC to memorize the Articles of Faith in spanish.  I have yet to have huge opportunities to use them, but I am ready for when the happen!  I have felt the power of the Articles of Faith though.  They were inspired by our prophet, Joseph Smith, in a time where people had no idea what the gospel was about.  Even now, people don't know that much about the gospel, and the Articles of Faith still stand pure and true.  I love that.

Anyway conference was awesome. I loved it. It was a huge blessing to hear from a general authority, from a fantastic stake presidency, and also from President and Sister Morgan.

Also we received iPads this week! Currently I am typing on my iPad! It is awesome! We are doing The Lord work so differently now and I love that. It is an incredible blessing.  We are the ninth mission in the world to be receiving them, so we are definitely the guinea pigs. So it will be exciting to see how they progress!

This week we will be doing (hopefully) a chalk finding activity!  The zone leaders asked for us to think of ideas, and then two days ago were like, "oh, Sister Dodson, what are you going to draw for us?" So apparently it is kind of my project. I am sooo excited. We will be doing it on Saturday so expect pictures on Facebook soon.  I am thrilled to be able to use my talent to spread the gospel. I have been learning that that is the real reason I have it.  God gives us talents only for the use of the building up of his kingdom. I am so grateful for my gift, and for the support of people! My temple drawing has gone viral on Facebook. TONS of missionaries shared it, as well as many people from home! It is a blessing from God.  I am just grateful to be an instrument in His hands.

So a couple funny stories from this week: first I have learned that it is always better to stretch at home after working out at the gym... New York is scary. Luckily because we have been wearing big puffy coats and glasses we don't get cat called as much! The other day we were walking past a man with an electric wheelchair. When he drove past he almost ran over Sister Lancaster, and they had an awkward moment of yelling sorry at each other. Afterwords, as he's driving away he says, "Don't worry, I'll give you a ride next time!" I was laughing so hard.

Also this week I may have had a Marilyn Monroe moment! It has been super windy. We wear big coats, jackets, tights, glasses, etc. the glasses are awesome. The wind chill is terrible here and I don't like it when my eyes just water and water, so we got glasses to lock the cold wind! They have helped tons. Also we need them to protect your eyes from the poop, trash, and Dirt that gets blown into your eyes. Anyways we had dinner at a members house with a couple elders. I was wearing my orange skirt, my green coat, boots, but no tights (it was 68 degrees that day. November 18, and 68 degrees,). Anyways right when we walk outside,  a huge gust of wind comes up and blows my skirt up in the air! I am standing right next to an elder, with sister Lancaster and the other elder barely in front of me! Luckily I don't think the elders saw anything! Hahaha.

We have been focusing on members this week, and so far have four dinner appointments lined up this week! That is pretty exciting. Member missionary work is what creates lasting and strong conversions. Members are the key! So I would encourage you to continue looking for people to help convert. Everybody needs a good friend in the Church.

Love you guys so much! Thank you for all!

Love you!!!

Sister Dodson

She's Alive!!!!

Sadie is doing well, and loving being a missionary! We apologize for the delays in getting her emails up--we are still trying to figure out how who is going to post what. Anyways....her ya go!

Hola Family!

My whole entire district is staying this cycle!!! WHOOOO! I am soooo excited about that.  Because I LOVE my district.  They are all amazing!  We actually only had 4 people change in our zone.  But we opened up 2 new Sisters areas.  The english ward now has 14 missionaries.  That's in same!!!  We got 9 new missionaries to the area today.  Isn't that insane?  The day when sister and elders are half and half might be coming soon.  I don't know how I feel about that.  weird, right?!  Anyways, tomorrow we get IPADS!!!! I am sooo excited!  It is going to be so much fun and awesome.  I realized here that I hadn't seen any Mormon Messages... So it's going to be nice to be able to have them on my Ipad and watch them so that we can share them!  

So it is going to work like this.  I am going to an ipad for me.  So I will keep the same Ipad for my whole mission.  As in it is MINE.  Cool right?!  So after we get Ipads we are going to go buy cases.  Because I need a heck of a case.  If you break it you have to pay $300 for a new one.  And I don't want that.  Anyway I am spoiled.

I finally bought boots today!!! Thank goodness because it was getting cold! I am super excited.  Also I am so excited to still be with Sister Lancaster and to still be in the city.  CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY!!! BOOOYA!  I have convinced Sister Lancaster to go down to the city and ice skate at Rockefeller with me.  Because that is my only dream in life.  True story.

Language is not too bad.  I feel blessed to speak Spanish.  I need to speak more though... Basically we only speak it in lessons... President called us to repentance today.  He does that a lot.  I think his favorite thing to do is call people to repentance.  But hey, that's why we love him!

Nothing too much happened this week except a mouse ate my stinking Doritos.  

Also here is a tip for anybody going to serve a mission.  Please share this one because it is legit.

Have at least 15 pairs of underwear.  Enough for at least two weeks.  Especially now because it is freezing and we don't sweat at all I never need to wash my clothes, but I have to do laundry every week because I need clean undies.  Laundry is expensive and takes a ton of time.  So it is better to have enough undies for two weeks to do laundry every other week.  

Hermana Lancaster is having migraines and this morning was terrible.  She has told me she has never felt so tired as she has since we became companions.... I am worried I am wearing her out!  

Look for me to post my latest artwork!  It's pretty cool and I'm excited to share it with people!  I want people to see my drawing and want to go there….

Love,

Sadie

Also, here are some pictures that our cute friend, Jen, took when she visited Sadie in the city!

STILL carrying that banner!

Hey ya'll!
I am still serving in the New York, New York North Mission, and still loving every minute of it! In addition to proselyting on the streets of NYC, I will also now be proselyting online. This means I can use Skype, Facebook, and Blogs as means of sharing the gospel! 


In order to uphold my new calling, I will be readjusting my blog a little bit to help spread the Gospel more.  Hopefully renovations will be complete within the next week :).  In the meantime, feel free to Facebook stalk me, email me at sadie.dodson@myldsmail.net, and keep checking back in for updates!

Through this great opportunity we can assist in the spreading of the true message of the Restored Gospel to the whole earth, allowing for every heart and soul to be made whole and rejoice in our Savior.

Love you all!
Sister Dodson

Checking In

Sadie will be posting herself on the blog starting this week...so stay tuned! For those of you that mosey over here from Facebook, I will make sure she knows to post when she puts up a new blog post.

Thank you for your patience!

The World Will Know!

Hola family!!!

This week was insane! Yesterday we had an amazing zone conference.  I was able to see Hermana Livingston and see her play the violin.  She truly is TALENTED.  She started out by playing Amazing Grace, one of my favorite hymns that we played and sung all the time in the MTC, and I totally started tearing up.  I was like, What the Heck??  But it was beautiful.  I am so blessed to know her.

Hermana Dodson and Hermana Lancaster

Anyway, zone conference ended with a bang.  It was announced yesterday that we are now online proselyting missionaries! This means that now I will be preaching the gospel on Facebook, Mormon.org, and my blog!  Essentially I will be taking my blog over in a few weeks.  So if you see me on Facebook, don't get freaked out.  Haha.  But this is truly a blessing.  We talked about how the prophesy that the Gospel will go to the whole earth is now coming true, as we are using the internet to reach literally every person on this planet.  It is a miracle to be able to use the internet for it's true purpose: proclaiming Salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ!

There have been missionaries in my mission using the internet as trial runs now, one of which is a convert.  He has been able to share the gospel with his family through Facebook, and a couple days ago was ago to Skype his family, along with other missionaries, and teach them about the Restoration.  I was so touched by this story.  He is having the opportunity to teach the most important people he will ever teach as a set-apart missionary.  This work is glorious, and I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of it!

Anyway, as part of this announcement, every missionary will receive an Ipad and each companionship will receive Iphones in the next few weeks!  YESSS.  We have been using members ipads to share videos, etc. for a while, and it is amazing to be able to use technology to bring the gospel to the world.

I am so THRILLED by Nani and Papa's decision to serve another mission at the age of 79!! I could not be more proud and humbled to have their example in my life.

Another thing you might love, if you haven't seen it yet, the missionaries in South Man Zone all got together and did a chalk drawing of the Plan of Salvation in Union Square!  They literally walked people through the Plan!  There is a video on KSL, and it is all over Facebook.  Pictures are also on a the blog reachmygospel.blogspot.com.  I feel so honored to have these brilliant people in my mission!  My district is now talking about doing this at Yankee Stadium.  Too bad baseball season is over!  

Another great thing, we are moving apartments, and we are moving next to a GYM!! I am so excited.  I don't think I have gained much weight, since we are lucky to get one dinner appointment a week, but I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to just be more healthy!  I can't wait to get back to the gym.  Bet you never thought I would say that, did you? Haha.  

I have learned so much about the Character of Heavenly Father by reading "Jesus the Christ".  It's funny, but I feel like as I have started to read that book, I have learned more about the Father than our Savior so far... Haha.  But I know our Father loves us.  I literally see this everyday.  He fills me with love for others as I have the opportunities to share the gospel.

A typical day includes waking up sooo early, get ready, study, language study, eating lunch, roaming our area hoping somebody is home until about 6.  Sometimes we have planned lessons, but a lot of times it is just easier to go knock on someone's door.  People are so busy here.  Although now we will be on Facebook in the afternoons during our non-busy time.

From P-day last week. Museum visiting!

We are going to the temple today.  I AM SO EXCITED!!! 

Love you guys sooo much, and I miss you like crazy!!

Love,

Sadie

NYC Week Dos

Hola familia!!

It's been yet another crazy week in NYC!  But we didn't really expect different, so that's okay.  Haha.  First off, I AM SO EXCITED.  We work mostly with less actives, who just don't realize the heaviness of the gospel and that things really do continue after baptism.  We have decided the best way to show them is to teach about the temple.  Truly the temple is where the saving ordinances are done, and it is so exciting to be able to share with people the power that is in the temple.  We are hoping that as we start to help less actives find a desire to go the temple, that desire will help them understand that they actually have to go to church to get to the temple... Haha.  Anyways, during companionship study we were talking about the temple and how we could get people excited.  Hermana Lancaster yells out, "you should do drawings of the Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) temple and Manhattan temple!"  Of course my mind was blown.  SOO those are my next projects! I am so thrilled to be able to use my talent to bring others unto Christ.  (When Sadie finishes them, we will have her send a picture so y'all can see her art. :) What a blessing it is to be able to do something so special for these people.  As we have been teaching about the temple to some members already, it is surprising how little they know.  Some have never seen a temple, and one less active who was baptized years ago, thought the temple and the chapel were the same thing... Not quite... But I am loving testifying of the power that is there.  There is an article in the Ensign about how youth are going to the temple, and I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of that! I am only 19 years old, and yet I get to partake of the blessings of the salvation already! I love it. We are allowed to go to the temple here once a cycle (6 weeks), but the South mission decided to let their kids go more, and so there are not enough workers and we can't go as often.  Many elders in my district have been out for 6 months and are going for the first time today.  I can't wait to go!!

Manhattan Temple

Santo Domingo Temple

I am really learning about the gloriousness and heaviness of this gospel.  It's not just something we do or a place we go, it's the work of salvation!! Literally without this true restored gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no way anybody can return.  It is a blessing to be able to share that with others, but also a struggle to be able to help them feel it's heaviness.  I mean, it took me 19 years to really be able to begin to comprehend! I just pray that we can bring the Spirit enough to show people.  

Our ward is so hilarious.  I looovee the people.  They are freaking funny.  We have this one old lady who store some 3D glasses from a movie theater because she thinks they help her see better than regular glasses.  Basically my whole ward is like that.  They are fun and hilarious.  We have having a Dia de Naciones activity in a couple weeks where everyone is doing a performance or somthing from thier country.  Us missionaries, the only Americans, are doing the Hoe Down Throw Down... I don't know how that happened... Hahahaha.  I like to call this activity "Carnaval de Barrio" since the word Barrio is ward as well as neighborhood.  All my IN THE HEIGHTS peeps will love this.  Hahaahahah.

New York is crazy.  It blows my mind to be so in the world, but so out of the world.  Like last P-day we went and played Ultimate Frisbee on a field literally right outside of Yankee Stadium.  Yeah. YANKEE STADIUM.  I was kind of freaking out the whole time.  Except now we got to Yankee Stadium like three times a week since it's the end of our area, so yeah.  But it's amazing.  I was in shock.  But anyways, then we go and testify to people about Jesus Christ.  We stick out like sore thumbs here.  Two cute white girls walking around the Bronx... The other day we passed a cop car and the cops in the car yelled out, "Hey, what are you two ladies doing in a place like this?!"  We get cat-called ALL THE TIME.  God has blessed me with deafness though, and I can't really hear all the terrible things that are said to us.  It is nice to be called beautiful every day though.  Hahaha... Not really.... Although Hermana Lancaster told me that she hasn't been cat called this much in this area before... Uhhh.  Yesterday we were crossing the street and this guy yells at me, "I've been waiting for you girl for an hour!"  And I was like "Sorry, have a nice day."  And then as I'm walking away he says "Oh, so you're saying I've got to wait a little longer??"  I was dying laughing.  Never in my life have I been called Shorty, and now I get called it like every day.  Whatevs.  

If you have suggestions…..please help!  So there is a mouse rotting behind our cupboards, and the super says we can do nothing about it.  Basically my apartment smells like rotting body.  If you could google how to get rid of the smell, or at least how long it will take for the smell to leave, that would be great!!!!  We are actually switching apartments probably this week with the zone leaders, and I feel terrible that they might have to move in to that.  Grossssss.  Let me know!!  Today, I am emailing from the apple store across the street from the temple.  BOOYA.

My companion is fantastic.  I love her tons!! She is hilarious.  I've made her pass out a couple times and it makes me pee my pants (skirt?).  She is literally always tired, so we have to schedule in a nap time.  Mom, you would love this.  I ususally use it as extra study time though.  Or art time.  Sometimes I like to call it "talent time".  Hahaha.  But she is great.  She brings the Spirit, and always makes sure I get a chance to share during the lesson.  She has been a fantastic example to me as she has shown me how to truly love and act in a place like this.  She has also been my HERO with spanish.  I am so grateful to have her.  She is from Springville, Utah, and went to high school with Robert (she thinks she had a class with him maybe??) . She is 22 years old, and will go home in February.  She loves art, loves geology, and loves the gospel.  I love her!

Question for ya'll, what the heck is going on with the government??

Also if you could send me info about the difference between direct and indirect object verbs in english...because I don't understand, and in spanish they are whack.

I love you guys so much!!

Love,

Hermana Dodson

Of Break-ins, Besos, and the Bronx

Hola familia!

Answers to your questions: I live on the fourth floor, with a broken elevator.  Yay!! My butt is sore every morning.  I don't know why we live so far away from our area.. But we are talking to the President about possibly moving after this week... 

First things first, after reading the title of this email, you are probably freaking out.  But know that I LOVE THE BRONX.  It is scary and crazy but I love it to death.

Bronx skyline

Anyways, New York must have found out I was new, and sent somebody to give me a nice welcoming!! Yay... Friday night we came home to find that our door was all jacked up.  The handle was pried up and looked like a wreck.  Somebody tried to break into our apartment. We have elders in the other district that live about three minutes away from us so we called them before we even attempted to open the door.  We were kind of freaking out that someone was inside.  The elders sprinted over and after turning the lock, found that the door had been messed with so badly that the door knob wouldn't even turn.  It was dang scary.  We ran to our downstairs neighbors and the elders climbed up to the fire escape to go through out window, but that was locked too.  So we ran to get the super and tell him what went down.  He told us to call the cops... whattttt.  Neither Sister Lancaster or I had ever called 911 before, so we were kind of freaking out again.  We ran upstairs and found that the elders had used a Subway Rewards card and opened the door.  Nothing was missing, and nobody had gotten in.  But we were still extremely nervous, and now we were waiting for the cops to come.  Our zone leaders came over too (one of which is a dark haired dark eyed Jordan Teuscher.  HAhahahahah), and President called us to see if we were okay.  I think he was super nervous about me since it was my second day, and because in our interview I asked him if I was moving into a safe place.  He assured me never have they had a problem with dangerous situations or anything like that before.  And then this happens... I had to laugh a little bit about that.  Anyways, President told the Elders to stay with us until the cops arrived, and then we were going to go stay at another sisters' apartment.  So we waited and hung with the Elders in our apartment.  By the time 10:30 rolled around, one of the Elders had already taken an Ambien and was going crazy.  He couldn't see colors or anything straight anymore, but wouldn't go to sleep since that would kind of be a little inappropriate, since they aren't even allowed to be in our apartment.  By the time midnight rolled around, Monopoly was pulled out.  And then by 2, we were extremely antsy.  We called 911 again, and they told us we were on EXTREMELY low priority, since it was just an attempted break in, and we live in the Bronx, and it was a Friday night.  Greatttt.  By 2:30 we got a hold of President and he told the Elders to leave.  So Hermana and I grabbed our blankets and fell asleep on the couch hoping the cops would arrive soon.  At 4 the cops finally showed up.  They were at our apartment for literally five minutes, three of which were spent climbing the steps to the fourth floor.  They then told us it was just a criminal mischief and they weren't really going to file a report.  By this point we were so exhausted I couldn't even react.  We called President to tell us the cops came, and he told us to sleep in the next morning! Yay!  Basically the last few days have been spent dealing with the super trying to get a new lock, dealing with the cops who wanted to see the old lock, and trying to catch up on sleep.  President was really sweet to us and let us sleep in and go to bed early a couple times to catch up.  Thank goodness for that, because otherwise I would have DIED during Conference.

Anyways, I know that angels were looking out for us that night.  If a criminal couldn't get through our door, but somehow elders and a plastic card could, then miraculous things must have happened.  Also I know the Lord blessed me with peace.  Throughout the whole situation, I felt okay.  I didn't feel worried or insecure, and I know that had a huge affect on Hermana Lancaster who was kind of freaking out.  The Lord is looking out for us!!

A few other things:

I have been called to speak Spanglish!! It seriously is so funny.  Everybody here speaks Spanglish.  Basically if you don't know a word in Spanish you can fill it in with English, and chances are they will still understand you.  We don't usually get fed, but we have had dinner appointments Monday and yesterday, and we have one tonight!  We have set up a schedule to go eat dinner with a woman and her husband (who is an artist and got REALLY excited when I told him I was an artist.. Haha) and that is great.  Yesterday we were checking up on former investigators and found a woman who is really strongly Catholic and has no interest in the church, but always lets missionaries in and feeds them.  Let's just say Dominican food is like my favorite thing now.  Everyone greets you with a beso, a kiss on the cheek.  Germs are really fun things here.  Haha.  Also the worst part here, besides the break in, is being two white girls in the Bronx.  We get dog called ALL THE TIME.  Seriously people say the most inappropiate and hilarious things to us.  I am in shock that it happens.  Never have I been asked if I have a boyfriend, been told I'm beautiful, or been told "Oh God bless YOU, shorty" so many times in my life.  Hahahaha.  Oh man.  WHAT IS THIS WORLD.

I love the work. We have two big investigators, and four ones in the process.  I love the work and am so thrilled to be able to spread this gospel.  I know it is the true church on this earth!! 

Love you guys lots!! 

Todos mi amor,

Hermana Dodson

Start Spreading the News!

Hola familia!! 

I am here in New York!! Culture shock!! Haha. Also it is really odd to be typing on an American keyboard again...

My first area is....... THE BRONX.  I am so excited to be in the city!  It is definitely the ghettos, but I couldn't be happier.  There are the most interesting people here already.  We live in an apartment about 30 minutes away from our actual proselyting area, so don't worry, by tomorrow I will be a pro at public transport.  

Source

My first companion is Hermana Landcaster.  SHE IS FANTASTIC already.  I am seriously so happy.  She talks a ton, loves art, and is dang hilarious.  She already told me how she just wants to go the Met so bad and hasn't had an artsy enough companion to do all those things with.  I am so pumped for our P-days.  We get to go our of our area twice each transfer, one of which to use the temple (and do some city stuff there too).  All the elders rave about her.  They have also told me that she laughs a ton and if she gets laughing too hard then she will faint... HAHAHAHA.  This is so perfect. I will make sure to keep of tally of how many times I have to catch her.  She has been here for almost six months know so she definitely knows her way around the Bronx.  She speaks Spanish with a very Domincan accent- they drop off all s's and r's.  SO instead of saying Iglesia de JesuCristo de Los Santos de Las Ultimas Dias, it's more like Igleia de JeuCisto de lo antos de la ulima Dia.  It's going to take a while to catch up on that one.  I will send pictures home next week of the Bronx.  But I could not be more excited to be here!!

Hermana Livingston is up in Yonkers, so we won't get to see each other for a while.  That is a big bummer, and it was so hard to say goodbye to her!  I love her sooo much.  

My mission president is AMAZING.  The only way I can describe him is to describe him as a Steve Clinger.  He has a big booming laugh, genuinely loves people, and definitely has tons of fun.  The Mission Mom is the most adorable lady on the planet.  She is so sweet.  I love them already and am so excited to be able to get to know them more.  

Yesterday we flew into a teeny-tiny airport in White Plains, NY, and right when we landed I just felt like I was at home.  Part of me felt like peeing my pants, but for the most part, I just felt so comfortable.  I know this is the place I am meant to be, and I am so grateful every day that Heavenly Father blessed me enough to send me here.  New York is going to be a place of miracles.  I can feel it.  

Also it is stunning here.  The leaves are just beginning to change colors, and it looks like a scene straight out of Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost.  The mission home is in Scarsdale, and it is over 100 years old, and thus it is stunning.  The New England old fashioned feel here is incredibly welcoming and home-y.  

Funny story- My companion is the only person in the ward who can play the piano, besides one of the deacons who can play about two hymns... Looks like I will need to spend some time practicing my Piano!  Of course this would happen to me.. Haha.  Mom, I am sure you are gloating reading this.  

Love you all! It was AMAZING getting to speak to you yesterday, and it totally got rid of all my tiny homesick feelings.  I am so thrilled to get out in the real world doing real missionary work! 

Yo se que JesuCristo es nuestro Salvador y Redentor y la manera a Dios es por medio de El.  La Iglesia es verdadera, y un mision es lo mejor manera que yo puedo hacer ahor.  Me enconta!

Todos mi amor,

Hermana Dodson